Religion and Corruption in Nigeria Essay Example for Free

Religion and Corruption in Nigeria EssayIn the constitution of our nation faith feature prominently at the genuinely beginning. I the preamble to the 199 constitution, it is sustain and solemnly resolved that we intend to live in hrity and harmony as one indivisible and in dissolvable fevereigh nation under God. Indeed the overwhelming mighty of Nigerian be devotions people we gestate in the supremacy of God, we believe that God is the very basis of our individual lives and our corporate existence.We believe in and relate with supernatural realities through prayers and supplications and through the offering of sacrifices find churches, musgus shrines and Sunday prayer houses everywhere in the land we take part in crusades, worship sessions and might rights, we offer sacrifices and observe fasting days and religions holidays, and we so in large numbers on religion is pilgrimages to Jerusalem and mecca, taking pride in being c completelyed Jerusalem pilgrims (JP) or Alhaji thro ughout our lives. While thee is noticeable decline in religion farour in may parts of the world to lay the religion inter measure seem to thrive very much in Nigeria, as more and more company wargon houses private buildings, schools, and our spirit stadia ar being courted to prayer bena, and the stadia hort more religion crusades than for spiriting events. It is noticeable that street within our town and villages as wellspring as inter-state in high spiritsways are often blocked these days by enthusiastic worshippers who flock to church and battalion meetings.It is not and exaggeration to state that there are as umteen churches and Mosques as there are streets in our urban areas. According to Norimitsa Onishi in an article in new York seasons march 13,2002 Christianity is emergence faster in sub-Saharan Africa than in any other place on earth. Roman universality and the other Major protestant denomination are gaing mine follows everyday, but new churches are star the b oom.Within this religion firmament, bishops, evangelists pastors, prophet, faith leaders and visionaries, as well as sheikhs, mams and gurus of all sorts are ball in number and having a failed day in recent past a new proportionality has been added to the throwing religions enterprise. And this is the increased patronage of high ranking public official who not openly call for and sponsm unremitting prayers sessions in different churches and prayer houses go through themselves become born again Christians and prayer erchants, often appear at church crusades and prayer vigils with all the paraphernalia of public office and sometimes grabbing the microphone to fall sanctiononion homilies and earthshaking prayers. Also worthy of note is that these days prayer and preaulims sessions are no longer throttle to churches, Mosques and homes, but they are held in government offices, in commercial buses, corporate boardrooms and in open markets. Nigerian going about their daily businesse s are seen brandishing the Bible Wkoran, the Rosary or Islamic prayer beads.The langeil blame boards in our town and cities are those colvertising up flood tide religions crusades are faith healing carnivals. The exclamations, to God be the glory, praise the Lord, the Lord is God, Bless you, and Alaahu wa Kbar, are often on the lips of Nigeria at worker at play from the exacted members of the National Executive council or Council of State to the young own who are about to grim common entrance examination.Succinctly put from all outward indication Nigerians are a inveterate religions people. Unarguably one can perrps say about there is no nation in the modem world unit as muner religiosity as contemporary Nigerian . Now how do you place the religion piety of Nigeria with the endemic decadency in our society ? With all the show of religiosity one would have expected to see a very high degree of social morality in Nigeria, since all world religions generally promote truth, justice, honesty and probity.But this is a reverse case withy us. The is an demeaning contradiction between the high ethical demands of the religion profess by majority of Nigerian and the phenomenon of rottenness greed and graft that has earned our country one of the most corrupt nation in the world. round observes of the phenomenon actually say that corruption is so endemic in the Nigeria society that the society economic and semipolitical system can almost not tinetion without it.Along side religiosity corruption in its many shapes and sizes is becoming in Nigeria- from the petty bribery taken in the work in the office or the policeman at the check point, to the grand corruption by which huge project read are hurriedly awarded, not for the sake of common good, but because of the greed awarding official, who requires some money via contract kick-baiks The Nigeria society is prevalence with frauct, thievery and roguery even as our environment is a wash with prayers and ritual sacrific es to the God of truth, justice and sanctity.Doesnt it seen a contradictory to many highly placed Nigeria hat they malversate and misappropriate stupendous a turn ons of public and company, and even church funds while at the identical time trying to occupy the front seats and even struggle or pray to take religion titles in their churches corruption is so perverse that it has infiltrated every facet of the Nigeria society procure medical certificates of physical fitness from hospitals when they have not undergone any medicate testy nonplus sick leave permits from doctors when they hale and hearty, extrapolate the age of their children obtain fake certificate in order to gel them to school or obtain jobs for them, routinely swear to false affidavit in order to obtain false age declarations when quest employment etc. it is a statement or fast that many or those who today and drivers attest have never been to a drawing school. They simply pay for the license and declare themselve s drivers thereby place the lives of genuine drivers into jeopardy.Many of our country men who flock our churches on Sundays and fill the mosque on Fridays are constantly involve in such fraudulent activities as evading tax, issuing and obtaining of take receipts, over invoicing and under invoicing consequence of take drugs, petty and large scale bribery, take anclit report, adverse fee frond, ete. All these utilisations are so common place so inside spread that many Nigerian youths can not describe between good eril or between what is right and wrong. As a result, corruption in Nigeria has been describe as system, and the consequence are legion corruption has bred in efficiency and diminished productivity in both the public and private sectors of the economy.It has discourage investment, fuelled capital flight, increased unemployment and inflation, created and acute degree of poverty, brought about a severe decline in the quality of life and life expectancy in Nigeria and given Nigeria and Nigeria a terribly bad image in the cornity of Nations. Infant corruption is an affront on human dignity and an assault on the human conscience apart from being a negation of the Christian rocation to promote holiness and righteousness in the world. Are they truly Christians? This question is pertinent and fundamental because many of our people who ask in the sharp practices enumerated above would like to be seen as pious Christians. But really are they?Do they really know the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of holiness and righteousness, who in Leviticus 192 says be holy for the Lord am holy Do they really know the God of Moses and Joshua who on mount Siriat presented the ten commandment as the tempt of his contract with him people insisting that fidelity to this ethical scratch is what exit distinguish his people from others? Do Nigerian who pack to worship God, but who at the same time offer and take bribe, defraud, evade tax and circumvent justice know the God of Mosses who in Exodus 228 says You will accept no bribes, for a bribe blinds the clear perceive and is the cause of the ruin of the upright.Do they know the God of the prophets who in Isaiah 3315 says that the person who will be qualified to be in his presence is the one who acts uprightly and speaks honestly, who scorns to be rich by extortion, who rejects bribes out of hand, who refuses to listen to plan involving bloodshed and shuts his eyes rather than countenance crime. Do Nigerian worshippers who desexualize a daily show of their religiosity known that what the Lord truly require of us is to go to sleep terekerly, to do justice and to work humbly by me God (Micah68 John the Baptist while preparing for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ crudemned the kind of religion that thrives side by side with corruption as empty ritualism.In his addrer to those who gathered to listen to him, amongst whom were solders and tax collectors, he admonished Exalt no more than the name rate No intimidation. No Excntinu be content with your pay Luke 313-14. Jesus himself denounced the kind of religions practice that was not matched by high moral and ethical standards in realize that not all those who claim to be Christians will enter the kingdom of heaven but only those who do the will of the military chaplain Mathew 5. This Christianity make no room for crooks and fraudsters. It has no place for those who offered take bribes. Genuine Christianity does not accommodate the cnetire of gag rule in Nigeria to day.Therefore, faced with the contradiction and the embarrassment of a booming Christianity in the most of an environment that stinks with corruption and indiscipline, one is poise to conclude that what is spreading like wildfire in contemporary Nigeria is not genuine Christianity at all, but a masc movement with elements of Christian ritualism, one that is in large measure shallow, superficial, noisy and sinless of substance and depth. Popular Christian ity in Nigeria is often Materialistic and individualistic in orientation, with an in credibly high sense of devotion to the cult of material and physical prosperity, success and healing, and with little or no caution at all given to the social morality of the believing persons.